home improvement tools

The History and Benefits of Cafe Shutters

If you’re looking to make home improvements related to your windows, you have a lot of options. Some of these depend upon where the window is located in the house (which side of the house, which floor of the house, etc). While others are down to personal preference benefits or features that you consider must-haves for your windows.

How Cafe Shutters Can Brighten Your Home

If your goal is to let in a lot of light while maintaining some measure of privacy, you might consider cafe style shutters for your ground floor windows. Their design allows for a lot of natural light to enter via the top half, while a beautifully-crafted screen maintains privacy on the lower portion. Many people like this style due to its versatility and ease of use and installation.

Cafe shutters got their start in Europe but came to the new world via the Spanish. They were widely used for a long time after thanks to being cheaper than the glass options of the day.

Window Transom

While it is easy to think of such shutters as simply half the size of “ordinary” shutters, it’s recommended to install them by matching them to the highest point of your window’s transom. You don’t want to end up with shutters of any type that don’t really match the feel and look of the window and throw off the whole aesthetic. Taking such measurements is also practical as it ensures the windows are used to their fullest capabilities with no unnecessary overlap.

Best of all, you can still use them in the same way as a full height shutter, with positioning in both open and closed states and adjusting their louvers to allow more light. However, it is most typical to only adjust the slats instead of fully opening the window, since you have full lighting from the top portion.

As we touched on previously, it’s best if cafe shutters suit the window frame and the surrounding decor to ensure uniformity and an aesthetically-pleasing look. Another consideration is location. This style is ideal for keeping things private at eye level but in addition to light, can let in a lot of nice breezes if the shutters are installed in an area that allows outdoor air to circulate well.

Conclusion

And while it’s mostly a question of looks, be sure to take some time to consider what sort of materials you want for these shutters. The most popular choices tend to be a variety of hardwoods, and which one is usually dependent upon again, the type of window and decor in the location. There are also a few less common material types that are better suited to different areas of the home. Some people like having these shutters in their bathrooms, and so will opt for synthetic materials that give extra protection against moisture while still allowing for all of the benefits of the cafe style. Whatever the type of home or room, you should always check some of the tips on how to choose the right shutters for your home.

In short, this style provides many benefits and very few drawbacks. As long as they fit with the window and decor of your home, simply choose materials, colors or finishes that work well for you. Once installed you can enjoy lots of natural light, without sacrificing privacy.…

These days coloring the concrete surfaces both old and new using acid stains (also called reactive stain or chemical stain) is very popular because of its unique looks and cost effectiveness. Acid staining is a process in which an aqueous solution of metallic oxides and inorganic acid is sprayed over an existing concrete surface. The acidic solution of metallic oxide reacts with lime (Calcium Hydroxide) present in the concrete yielding insoluble, colored compounds that become a permanent part of the concrete. Therefore, one of the basic conditions where coloring concrete using acid stains is going to work is the presence of lime in the concrete. Quiet often people who have just bought a home or condo, remove the carpeting or vinyl tile, and find something underneath which they believe is concrete. When they spray the acid stain or reactive stain and wait to get disappointed because they do not see any change in the color on their concrete surface. This is because the substrate that looks like concrete is in fact gypsum based ‘Gypcrete’. Builders often use this on upper floors to level out areas of sub flooring and provide a good base for other types of floor coverings. Unfortunately, staining Gypcrete does not produce any desirable results since it does not contain any lime; moreover it is too soft and easily abraded. Therefore ‘Gypcrete’ cannot be used as a wear layer.

Since Gypcrete surfaces cannot be used as a wear layer and acid stains do not work on them, it is usual practice to apply a 1/16inch polymer modified concrete resurfacing material (also called micro-topping or skim coat). Please find below the steps involved in resurfacing Gypcrete and acid staining with a micro-topping or skim coat –

a. Sweep the Gypcrete surface and dry vacuum the surface thoroughly. Rake out the joints where drywall meets the floor. Clean the adjoining areas even those not being resurfaced with a micro-topping.

b. Install masking paper (plastic) at least 48″ high on the surrounding walls. Spray a light mist of water just to damp the surface (DO NOT FLOOD!)

c. Using a brand new rayon mop, apply the first coat of acrylic primer (Cp1000) after diluting it with water @ 1:1 ratio. After waiting for at least 60 minutes, apply second coat of diluted acrylic primer and let it cure overnight (or 10 hours at least) before proceeding to the next step.

d. Apply another coat of acrylic primer, this time non-diluted and let it dry for 30-60 minutes. The third coat of primer can be applied using garden sprayer (i.e., available in Home Depot or Lowes).

e. Apply a thin coat (1/16″) coat of micro-topping or polymer modified overlay using magic trowel. Please follow the link for specific instruction on application of polymer modified micro-topping, Sgraffino. Allow the micro-topping to cure for at least 24 hours. In damp and cold conditions (basements), wait for at least 48 hours before proceeding to the next step.

f. Apply acid stain on the completely dried micro-topping. Please follow the link for specific instruction on application of an acid stain, Patinaetch. Allow the acid stained surface to dry for at least 24 hours before proceeding to the next step.

g. The micro-topping needs to be protected with a good quality sealer. Apply one coat of water based epoxy sealer, Perdüre E32 followed be another coat of water based polyurethane, Perdüre U46. Allow at least 6 hours between the application of epoxy primer and polyurethane topcoat. The sealed surface will be ready for use after 24hours. Of course, it takes at least 3 days for full cure.

Making a mind for installing a floor in your house? Do not get confused; simple and durable flooring you can opt for is there. Vinyl flooring is one of the finest choices keeping in view the long lasting quality and its affordability. Especially when you are considering flooring of bathrooms and kitchen, vinyl floor is the best option. Trend of installing vinyl floor is increasing day by day. Not only the durability and affordability is the major reason but also it has a wide range to select from. There are various designs, colors and types and the prices depend on the quality and material used in manufacturing. Let’s discuss in detail the characteristics of this flooring.

Introduction To Vinyl Floor:

Vinyl floor is basically a building material made of polyvinyl chloride called PVC. It is made of engineered products instead of original material. Similar to linoleum but is more durable. It can be used in commercial areas like offices, shopping malls as well as in residential areas like bedrooms as well as kitchens and bathrooms.

Types Of Vinyl Floor:

There are basically two types of this flooring. One is called printed vinyl and the other is inlaid vinyl. Printed contains a thin sheet of vinyl and has a coating of printed-paper. It is cheap in cost and is not much durable, while the inlaid vinyl is thicker in sheet strength and is expensive. Both are available in the market in form of sheets as well as tiles.

Advantages Of Vinyl Floor:

Vinyl is less cost, long lasting and easy to maintain flooring. It is highly resistant to moisture and this quality makes it best option for the bathrooms and kitchen flooring. It can be the great flooring for heavy traffic areas like offices, shopping centers and schools. It’s underlay gives comfort to the foot and add insulation.

Disadvantages Of Vinyl Floor:

One of the major drawbacks of vinyl floor is that it cannot be refinished or polished. Over time when it looses its luster it looks dull and it can wear down. Though it is less in cost from other flooring but have short life comparatively. It is also sensitive to sunlight and cold and can get fade or crack.

When choosing for vinyl floors consider installation, cost and type of vinyl. Use inlaid vinyl flooring for heavy traffic areas like shopping centers, offices and schools. Printed vinyl floor is best for low traffic areas like personal bedroom. Use tiles if you want more designs and it is also easy to install on your own. But if you have tight budget go for vinyl sheets, as it is less in cost than tiles.

When you go shopping for an iron umbrella stand it is helpful if you know what kind of style you would like. There are so many on the market and they verge from the cheap and cheerful mass produced cast iron versions right through to the antique wrought iron ones made in the Victorian age.

Wrought iron pieces were once the sign of wealth and were very popular in the gardens and mansions of the elite. Talented blacksmiths spent weeks hand crafting these pieces and working with the iron until they had achieved a beautiful result. You can find some of these fantastic pieces at real bargain prices as often they have not been looked after. Covered in rust, they can look like too much work to bring back to their natural beauty. Often people will decide to buy a new iron umbrella stand rather than the antique.

But it doesn’t actually take that much work. You simply need a drill with the wire brush attachment, some sandpaper, a smaller hand held wire brush and a lot of patience. When you have taken the initial rust off you will need some primer, a rust inhibitor and finally some paint. You begin by removing the rust which you can do with the drill so long as you take things very slowly. You will need to use the sandpaper and hand held brush on the more intricate engravings. Once you have removed the rust and have achieved a smooth surface you will need to paint the piece with a rust inhibitor. An iron umbrella stand does attract rust as you tend to either use it outdoors or place wet umbrellas in it so protecting it in this way is very important. Then just prime the piece and apply a coat of paint and you will own a beautiful object.

It’s quite understandable that you had a hard time making decision to procure the SAP software considering cost and business renovation according to the system. Then, after many months of planning and implementation go through, you finally GoLive and try to find some room to relax. But, in no time you almost spend a calendar year, so here comes annual SAP official license audit. You will start receiving mails from SAP audit team members to complete the reports by given date. Actually you are not ready for all these measurement parameters to count so early. But as you have already signed the agreement with SAP, you should perform these steps in due time. So, you will soon start working with some new terms like USMM, SLAW etc.

So what is USMM?

USMM is the Tcode for the measurement program. By using this tool, you can determine all users license classification as per your procured SAP application and also the number of engines powered in each system. Then you can transfer the report online, directly to SAP.

Now, what is LAW?

LAW stands for License Administration Workbench, sounds bit tough though. Tcode for running this tool is SLAW. You can consolidate each system measurement reports by this program and send directly to SAP.

So are you ready to prepare your first measurement reports? Surely you are. Before proceeding to USMM, you must consider the following points –

– Check on SAP Service Market Place that you have all valid System Installations. Delete any unused or invalid installation without proper license.

– Check at, SAP Market Place -Data Administration -System Data

– Make sure you are the authorized person to do this, duly assigned by your company.

– Check your authorization profile on each system, that you have proper authorization to run USMM.

– Measurements should be done for Production, Development & Test Systems, that means you have to exclude IDES (Training) systems and any Backup systems.

– Prepare your measurement plan according to you Contract number, Installation/Customer number and System identification.

– Consult with your regional SAP LAW Team for all kind of assistance. Yes, they are available and very helpful in the matter no doubt.

SAP System measurement procedure on Development Systems:

1. Run the transaction code USMM.

2. Select ABAP DEV Client ON Clients tab.

3. Go to Price lists tab and select the applicable price list as per your contract.

4. Select User types. SAP Application Developer (CA) and Test (91).

5. On the Addresses tab, enter senders name & recipient name.

6. Now the most important part, User Classification. Run the query by clicking on ‘User classification’ (Shift+F6). Enter ABAPer client and execute (F8). This will show a list of all users according to license. Select SAP Application Developer(s) /ABAPer(s) as per your number of ABAP Developer license(s) and assign all other users as ‘Test’ user type. Be sure that ‘Checked user Type’ completely matched with ‘Manual User Type’. If any mismatch found, re-classify by selecting all mismatched users and click on ‘Classify Selected Users’ (Shift+F1). Select Contractual User Type from drop down menu and click on Save icon (Ctrl+S). Then run the query again to check all user classification is accurate. Now back to main USMM screen (F3).

7. As it seems like you have configured the parameters correctly, now it’s time to execute the main query, the ‘System Measurement’, click or just press F8. It will take around 5 to 15 minutes to complete all background job processes, depending your system and number of users. So, just sit back and have a cup of coffee in the meantime.

8. Check the ‘Measurement Statistics’ that all data is as per your configuration.

9. Click on ‘Comments’, if you want to send a Memo to SAP along with the measurements.

10. Finally, send your measurement results online to SAP by clicking on ‘Send to SAP’ or just press F10.

Now be sure that your SAP Router is active to complete the online transfer of reports. You can check the online transfer process by using the tcode SDCC or, SDCCN, will be discussed later. In case of LAW consolidation, export the measurement report. Go to top horizontal menu, System Measurement -Export to LAW File (Ctrl+F10). Then from Data Transfer Selection, select ‘By Download to file’ and click execute (F8). Save the txt file in your computer for later import in LAW consolidation. You can also transfer by choosing RFC to LAW Center or By Email, but in reality downloading as a txt file is the easiest way to proceed.

Now that you have completed the hard work, wait for your SAP License Auditor to response over email. They will come up with specific suggestions whether you need any correction on selection or re-classification of users. …

Flipping real estate properties is not for everybody but it is the fastest way to make a buck in the real estate business. Most everybody has heard of someone buying a “run down” house for a good price well below market value, fixing it up and selling it at a fair market price. Flipping a “fixer-upper” is definitely one way to turn a reasonably quick profit. I know some people who do it this way but they are more into the contractor and renovation business than they are of the investor mindset.

Some of these “fixer-upper” properties are in need of extensive repair and will involve electrical work, carpentry work, etc. If the investor gets involved and does some or all of this work then there could be enough profit there but if the investor farms out the required labour, profits could get eaten up quickly. For these types of flipping real estate investments, the purchase price needs to be at a huge discount and normally would be found somewhere in the foreclosure stage.

For the person that is in the mindset of investing rather than being in the renovation business then flipping real estate will only involve flipping the paper contract of the property without even taking possession of it. You can flip by entering an agreement to buy a property then sell the contract to another investor before close of escrow.

Using this technique won’t even require you to put your name on the title. Profits will generally be less than the fixer-upper investor but involves much less work and the whole process is much quicker. A fixer-upper investor would not be happy in making a profit of a few thousand dollars for a few months work on renovations but an investor that can just flip a contract for a few hours or days work would be.

Avoid disclosure of your profits to the new buyer by using a double closing.

After making a sweet deal and flipping a contract involving a juicy profit you may not want all these details to be revealed to your buyer. The solution is a double closing, transferring the property to you initially and then reselling immediately at the same lawyer’s office just an hour later to your buyer.

There is a drawback here and that is a double set of closing costs so you would have to weigh it out to see if it’s worth it to your particular situation or not. Further, you can use a title insurance company for the actual closings. For the issuance of the title insurance policy, the title insurance company will prepare the closing documents and close the transaction usually without an addition charge.

Minimalism: Less Is More In Home Decor

When angry people think of home decor, they think of going to the store to buy new things to make their home look better. Whether they’re throwing what used to decorate the space in the attic or they’re just cluttering their walls with extra stuff, materialism can sometimes play a central role. With the influx of capitalism’s siren song of stuff, people are starting to take a look at reality, step back and see all that stuff for what it is- just stuff. This is minimalism steps in and says that things can’t make us happy, so why spend our time and emotions trivializing experience for only the accumulation of more things?

Materials

Material as resource of inspiration for decor falls into the category of less is more. Understanding that you don’t need more things to make your space look better is important to understanding f the basics of design rules. Many minimalists, at the beginning of their journey were starting to understand that more things didn’t make them happy. It was actually quite the opposite when they stopped to think about it. Being surrounded by things made them feel u comfortably, isolated, and claustrophobic. We’ve seen this trend is different styles of art, music, and theatre and it’s no wonder that’s it’s also become increasingly popular in homes.

Minimalism Start Here

To begin with minimalism, it’s all about radically changing the way you think about things and rearranging them in your mind. Understanding that things can’t hold much Valley other than how they help you live is a staple. It isn’t a quick process, but a slow one that takes time to actually get rid of things. Getting rid of everything can cause a backlash and make you feel like you need your things back.

Start with your closet and pick out everything that you haven’t worn in more than a year. Either give them away to friends and family or give them lot charity shops. If you’re left with not much, just make sure you have a very few simple staples. You can get staples you need from New York and Company, because you’re going to want to make sure that these staples last you as long as possible and look great.…